It was only a 90-minute snapshot of a 38-game Premier League season but, on
this evidence, Roman Abramovich selected the wrong Jose Mourinho protégé.

Yes, Chelsea snatched a deflected equaliser but the dominant theme of another uplifting occasion at the Liberty Stadium was Swansea’s wonderfully slick passing football.

Brendan Rodgers, former Chelsea reserve team manager, continues to extract considerably more flair from Swansea than Andre Villas-Boas, Mourinho’s ex-scout, is coaxing from the supposed superstars at Stamford Bridge. A one-dimensional Chelsea performance was further marred by the dismissal of Ashley Cole, who collected two bookings and will now miss Sunday’s Premier League match against Manchester United.

With Chelsea down to 10 men and having created few chances, Rodgers knew that feeling such deep disappointment at a 1-1 draw was also testament to just how far Swansea have come. Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea have all now returned from trips to South Wales in the past month without tasting victory. “The players were magnificent – they deserved to win the game,” said Rodgers.

As much as it was a tale of two managers, this was also a story of two strikers. Scott Sinclair, who made just one league start in five deeply frustrating years at Stamford Bridge, scored for Swansea while 1,076 minutes have now elapsed since Fernando Torres registered his last Chelsea goal.

At £50million, Torres has cost Chelsea 100 times more than they recouped from selling Sinclair to Swansea for £500,000 two seasons ago. While Villas-Boas offered his usual support for Torres, he also looked forward to the return of Chelsea’s long-time talisman Didier Drogba from the African Cup of Nations.

With Frank Lampard and Drogba absent, there was a distinctly unfamiliar core to the Chelsea team. They looked disjointed in the opening exchanges as Swansea initially dominated both chances and possession.

The first clear chance was from a set piece. Sinclair’s accurate delivery was met by Steven Caulker but, despite falling invitingly for Danny Graham, the shot was skewed wide.

Further difficulty was caused with another direct ball into the heart of Chelsea’s defence. Angel Rangel launched a clearance from the right and, with Ivanovic failing to deal with the danger, Petr Cech hastily charged out. Cech missed the ball, leaving the goal at Gylfi Sigurdsson’s mercy. His shot was cleared off the line by Branislav Ivanovic, with Luiz scampering back to make a similar goal-saving block from Graham’s follow-up.

Swansea took a deserved lead in the 39th minute. Juan Mata had needlessly conceded a foul deep inside his own half and, from another dead-ball position, Chelsea’s defensive frailties were exposed. Sigurdsson’s free-kick landed on the edge of the six-yard box, with Jose Bosingwa unable to clear the penalty area with his header. Sinclair brilliantly punished the mistake, hooking his finish over Cech into the corner of the goal.

His previous association with Chelsea meant that the celebration was muted but the internal sense of elation must have been considerable.

The Chelsea dressing-room was short of obvious leaders but they emerged for the second-half with more purpose. Luiz remained unpredictable defensively but frequently stepped out to offer an extra man in midfield and provide some variety to Chelsea’s attacks. Yet while Mata, Bosingwa, Daniel Sturridge and Michael Essien all provided fleeting moments of danger, there was often a gaping hole in the centre of Chelsea’s attack. It appeared that a miserable evening had been compounded in the 85th minute when Cole was sent-off, but Bosingwa salvaged an unlikely point with a low drive that deflected off Neil Taylor and beyond Vorm.

Villas-Boas later expressed doubt over Cole’s second booking for a late challenge on Dyer and rejected the accusation that his team had been lucky. Yet after another unconvincing performance, and with Manchester United due at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the dilemma is clear. Does Villas-Boas revert to that tried and tested core who were unavailable last night or does he use the remainder of this season to accelerate the process of change? With Chelsea losing further ground last night on the top three, their ongoing Champions League status is likely to hinge on finding the right answer.